Patricia Routledge

Patricia Routledge (born 17 February 1929) is a popular British actress, best known for television roles such as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances.

She was born at Birkenhead in Cheshire, and educated at the University of Liverpool, going on to act at the Liverpool Playhouse. She went on to study at the Bristol Old Vic's theatre school. She appeared in many stage productions, including musicals, and made her Broadway debut in 1966. Her numerous television appearances, including roles in Coronation Street and several BBC drama serials, failed to make her a household name until the 1980s, when she appeared, amongst other things, in Victoria Wood's comedy series, and Alan Bennett's Talking Heads series of short plays.

It was in 1990 that she first played the comic role of Hyacinth Bucket, an originally working-class woman with social pretensions (for example, she insists on pronouncing her surname Bouquet). In 1996, she took the lead in another long-running series, this time a drama, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. She has also played several real-life characters on television, including Barbara Pym and Hildegard of Bingen.

Some Harry Potter fans have suggested Routledge for the role of Dolores Umbridge for the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(2006 or 2007).

Having been awarded an OBE in 1993, Routledge was given a CBE in 2004.